In the mid-twentieth century, income and wealth inequality was declining, leading to an era of comparative economic equality and a large middle class. But since the early 1980s, income and wealth inequality has been on the rise. The 100-year life describes how increasing life expectancy could transform the course of individual lives in detail – but how does this trend intersect with our age of inequality? And what does it mean for law and policymaking more generally? The dark side of rising life expectancy is that it is unequally shared. The first part of this chapter briefly discusses how age and inequality are connected – that is, that not everyone shares in rising life expectancy equally and that those who are living longer share many common attributes. The second part considers the possible impact of the skew in rising life expectancy on representative government. Inequality skews politics to favor the wealthy; inequality by age will likely do the same. The fundamental problem is that power is held unequally in most societies. The third part, on age and institutional design, outlines some ways in which political structures might be crafted to account for age-related differences.

A public option is a government-provided social good that exists alongside a similar, privately provided good. For example, in American public policy debates over the Affordable Care Act, some scholars and policymakers advocated for a publicly provided health insurance option (like Medicare) that could coexist alongside private health insurance options; individuals would be able to choose between the public option and private options. While the public option is typically identified with health care policy, public options have actually been a longstanding feature of American life in a variety of sectors. Public schools coexist with private schools; public swimming pools are an accessible alternative to building a pool in the backyard; public libraries provide an option to get a wide variety of books without purchasing them for one’s personal library.

One of the aspirations of a public option is to expand equality and opportunity by offering universal access to a good or service at an affordable price. But in practice, public options are not always equitable and inclusive, and people of color, the poor, the less-educated, and rural residents are often on the losing end. Policymakers who want public options to live up to the promise of expanding equality and opportunity therefore need to think seriously about the challenges that prevent public options from achieving those aims. Some of these challenges stem from the structure of the public options themselves, which can be designed in ways that advance or constrict equality and opportunity. Others will require broader reforms to politics and the allocation of power. Understanding the broader context is essential in designing public options that can advance inclusionary goals.